


Strictly Business

by frogstack



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: (Or as fluffy as hisoillu can get), Christmas, Fluff, M/M, Mistletoe, Vague descriptions of violence?, awful hell men, for hxhsecretsanta2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 05:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9163228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogstack/pseuds/frogstack
Summary: Illumi's at a holiday party on business and Hisoka arrives to ruin/save the evening.





	

**Author's Note:**

> LATE gift for enrouge via hxhsecretsanta2016 (tumblr)! this was super fun to write once i wiggled out of my depression hole. i can only hope i captured these characters well!

Illumi Zoldyck wasn’t exactly one for Christmas parties. Or parties, or holidays in general. The only circumstance that had brought him to this particular affair was business, and he planned to take his leave as soon as possible. He had located his target, who was rather tipsy, but in the midst of a discussion with some interns for his news outlet. 

If it had been up to him, he wouldn’t have taken the job. His father had passed it onto him; he had been “busy,” though Illumi doubted that. He likely realized the insulting simplicity of the job as well; the target was indisputably an idiot. He hardly needed the cover of the festivities, nor the impairing effect of the alcohol. Not everyone was a trained killer, but he failed to see how anyone would blow the money it took to hire a Zoldyck for this man. A toddler could’ve taken him out. 

The mission was going to be _too_ simple - at least, he had thought. Looking back, he should’ve made his move sooner.

Unforeseen circumstances quickly complicated his plans. “Circumstances” being the acquaintance of his who arrived an hour late to the gathering, sporting a red suit and white tie. Illumi knew the red stocking-shaped earrings dangling from his lobes were just as fake as the accompanying red of his hair. 

He wrinkled his nose in disgust. Hisoka didn’t blend seamlessly into the professional crowd at all, not that fitting in had ever been a priority of his. He knew that he wasn’t exactly here for the actual attendees, either. The man shouldn’t have known of his location tonight at all; he put in extra effort to conceal it from him while he was on business, as a preventative measure against a number of past mishaps. 

But his guard had been down due to the simplicity of the mission itself. Damn it.

Illumi wasn’t acknowledged right away. Hisoka busied himself at first with a few enthusiastic introductions and handshakes. His confidence alone seemed to convince most of the guests - _idiots_ \- that he somehow belonged there. He swore, a number of the civilians he dealt with on missions might as well have been needlemen before he ever touched them.

He knew, though, that he wouldn’t be left alone for too incredibly long. Hisoka approached him eventually, sliding up next to him and placing an arm casually around his waist - drawing attention to the both of them. Illumi inhaled through his nose. 

“You never struck me as the festive type, Illumi,” he teased, for some reason still playing dumb. They both knew why the other was there. His insistence upon theatrics was something that always annoyed, infuriated, excited Illumi about Hisoka. One of the three. “Have you tried the cider?”

“I haven’t,” Illumi replied just as casually. Maybe he could appease him enough to get his damned job done.

“You should,” Hisoka said, the hand on his waist tightening for a moment. “It might help you loosen up a bit.”

“I’m not here to loosen up.”

“Mm, are you sure? I noticed you haven’t even bothered with a disguise,” Hisoka said. “Unconscious desire of yours to open up for once?”

“No,” he answered simply.

By that point, their exchange had drawn a few eyes to their corner at the end of the refreshments table. Illumi quickly began to relocate, expecting Hisoka to follow. Maybe, if he could convince him this man was a target worth hitting, he could utilize him as an accomplice… but no, Hisoka wasn’t that dense. He hadn’t explained it outright, but he must’ve known his lack of a disguise was due to the mission’s difficulty level, which didn’t exactly warrant one. He would have to try and work around Hisoka as a third-party factor, and complete the job as planned…

He was stumped when he turned around to see a complete absence of Hisoka in his immediate vision, which was undeniably worse than him staying directly on his tail. That man needed to be supervised.  
He spotted Hisoka quickly, in the center of the room where his eyes had been trained for the past hour. He was speaking animatedly with the target, having gained his full attention. What was he _doing_?

Illumi strode over as casually as he could manage, planning on finding a closer spot from which he could discreetly listen in. His plan was, again, disrupted by Hisoka. His eye contact and an exclamation of “Ah, here comes my partner now!” quickly forced him to reroute. 

He adjusted his expression as quickly, putting on his best mimicry of an inviting smile. What was _partner_ supposed to indicate? More important than that technicality, though, was the fact that Hisoka had managed to isolate the man from the interns he had been speaking with. Was he trying to...help?

Hisoka continued. “As I said, he’s a skilled electrician. Your penthouse here is exquisite, but the right lights in that office down the hall could make your workspace just perfect.”

Illumi squinted at Hisoka in a fraction of a second before turning back to his target and offering a simple nod. In his tipsy state, he nodded back repeatedly, looking absolutely enlightened. 

“Could you lead him there? I’m sure he’ll understand what I mean and offer you a quote right away.”

Hisoka’s next gesture was barely recognizable as a wink. He patted the target on his shoulder before returning to the party, quickly inserting himself in the largest conversation in the room and distracting nearly every guest who wasn’t already occupied with an argument or sexual pursuit.

He was offering him a chance. He would deal with the why of that later, he thought, allowing himself to be led to the back office. 

The target was silently, inconspicuously dead in a matter of seconds.

Immediately after, panicked screams filled the ballroom down the hall, followed by a familiar voice’s offer to call the local police. The likely culprit stood in the doorway by the time Illumi turned to leave, a smug expression on his face.

“What did you do?”

“Oh, nothing,” Hisoka said, feigning obliviousness. “A chandelier fell. It was like it just snapped itself towards that poor girl’s head.”

Illumi’s expression deadpanned. Hisoka smirked, and stepped forward to close the distance between them.

“I couldn’t resist having my fun, too,” he admitted.

Illumi chose to ignore the minor annoyance for now, focusing on something he was much more interested in.

“Why?” he asked. Regretfully, Hisoka knew him well enough by now that the rest of the statement was implicit - he wasn’t talking about the chandelier anymore.

“It’s Christmas, Illu,” he said, his grin only widening. “It was the least I could do to thank a close associate for another great year.”

“I didn’t need the help,” he retorted.

“You could still appreciate the effort,” Hisoka said, a dramatized pout on his lips. “How about a gift in return?”

He pointed upward, drawing Illumi’s eyes to a bundle of leaves and berries he had held above their heads. Illumi was vaguely aware of the mistletoe tradition.

He squeezed his eyes shut, swallowing his pride for the moment. It was an act of appeasement, he assured himself. He would get back at Hisoka for his misbehavior some other time. As his own line-set lips locked against Hisoka’s satisfied grin, he took a breath in through his nose. The room had started to reek of blood. 

“Time to go,” he stated, hair flaring out behind him as he turned towards the window.

“Agreed,” Hisoka said. Illumi could hear him lick his lips. “Partner.”

Illumi was still unclear on the implications of that word.


End file.
